All local Leagues have been incredibly busy with voter registration drives and candidate events. Many have also engaged in other activities that are highlighted here! Great job by all on voter service activities.
LWV of New Castle created a board (see left) about their League for the New Castle Historical Society Exhibition “New Castle’s Carrie Chapman Catt & The Women’s Suffrage Movement.”
The Waterfront Committee of LWV of Buffalo/Niagara continues its review of developments at Buffalo’s Outer Harbor, as conducted by the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation. They seek permanent protection of
critical environmental habitats, as well as strategies to engage the public while respecting the continuing evolution of the natural habitat at the water’s edge. To that end, they continue to build relationships with New York State legislators as well as with the ECHDC and the City of Buffalo.
Several league members and friends of the LWV of Syracuse Metro Area attended the annual luncheon on Women’s Day at the State Fair. Key note speaker Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul noting the 100th anniversary of women suffrage in New York State, spoke on how we still have a long way to go to gain equality in the political arena as well as the work place. We were also pleased to have LWVNYS President Dare Thompson join us for lunch.
The LWV of Chautauqua reached out to voters who are not comfortable in English by presenting an explanation in Spanish of the upcoming constitutional convention vote. Mary Croxton showed the League’s power point on the process and Mary Margaret Fogarty translated it into Spanish. Minda Rae Amiran distributed a Spanish version of our local “pro and con” sheet and helped with the ensuing discussion.
In honor of the immense work as a master gardener “to make our neighborhoods more beautiful and provide educational programming to our children,” the Mayor of Albany proclaimed Oct. 18, 2017, Aimee Allaud Day (see right)! Congratulations Aimee (just retired LWVNYS Election Law Specialist and LWV of Albany member, too).
The LWV of Rensselaer County initiated a project this year to provide “I Voted” stickers on election day. Rensselaer County has never provided these, and thought they might be a good way to increase voter participation in an off-year election. Of course, after they had been ordered and shipped to the BOE, the State announced their suffragette stickers. However, the Board of Election has been very happy to have these at no cost to the taxpayers, and the League hopes to make this an annual project.
The Natural Resources Committee of the LWV of Tompkins County is continuing to discuss the issue of Tompkins County housing needs and how to solve those needs in ways that are good for the environment and promote thoughtful use of land. The Committee is also in the process of compiling a list of interesting books that focus on environmental issues that will be posted on the LWV Tompkins website, giving a short description of each book.
On September 18, the LWV of Rochester Metro Area convened the first of several discussions about the barriers to voting that exist in New York State with a panel discussion by: Jennifer Wilson, LWVNYS Program and Policy Director; Thomas F. Ferrarese, Monroe County Board of Elections, Commissioner; and Douglas E. French, Monroe County Board of Elections, Commissioner. More forums will continue the discussion on this topic during the next couple of months.
LWV of East Nassau, with the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock, will host a postelection supper with commentary on the election results by Joye Brown, noted Newsday columnist.
At the LWV of Schenectady’s luncheon, Natalie Schubel, the Public Health Education Coordinator for Schenectady County Public Health Services offered the attendees definitions for the terms food insecurity and food desert and what these terms mean in the city of Schenectady. She discussed relevant data as they relate to both terms. She also presented the attendees with a sense of the ways that food pantries operate and a general sense of where they are located in the city. She encouraged the attendees to become involved with the food pantries and offered ways that they could do so.
After seven months of hard work by Arlene Hinkemeyer and the Women’s Suffrage Committee of the LWV of the Hamptons, the August 24 re-creation of the August 1913 East Hampton Suffrage Rally was an overwhelming success (see photos below). The VIP’s attending and speaking included Lt. Governor Kathy Hochul and Elizabeth Cady Stanton descendant, Coline Jenkins. Also speaking were the E.H. Village Mayor Paul Rickenbach, Jr. and Town Crier, Hugh King.
Committee members of the LWV of Huntington will be contacting local high schools to invite their students to participate in four distinct programs they have offered in the past : i e, Students Inside Albany, Vote 18, Running and Winning and Student Day at the Suffolk County Legislature. Moreover, they will encourage the schools to share any ideas they may have for new programs that the League can develop.
League of Women Voters of New York State
62 Grand Street, Albany, NY 12207
Tel: 518-465-4162; FAX: 518-465-0812
Website: www.lwvny.org
Email: lwvny@lwvny.org
Facebook: League of Women Voters of NYS
Twitter: @LWVNYS
